Car dealers collusion case sent back to judge

The Federal Trade Commission's case against the last dozen Detroit-area auto dealers accused of illegally colluding to limit hours of operation is back before a federal administrative-law judge.

The FTC in June 1995 ruled the dealers engaged in illegal collusion on hours, but the dealers appealed their case to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati. In May the court kicked the case back to the FTC for more hearings this year.

FTC attorney Ernest Nagata said the court ruled that "competitive conditions in the Detroit market may have changed since the time the commission entered its order, which might warrant a reconsideration of the order."

Rather than appeal this ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, the FTC opted to put the case...